Blog

Technology at Pardes

January 11, 2016

By Lezlie Strolle, Technology Integration Specialist

Here at Pardes we aim to deliver the most impactful educational experience possible and in today’s world that means using the technology that’s available to make education exciting. Technology is integrated into our curriculum both as a supplement for our talented teachers and tool for our students. Technology begins appearing on a regular basis starting in second, third, and fourth grades. Our curriculum emphasizes keyboarding skills, internet research skills, learning how to create, edit, and modify documents, slides, websites, email, movie clips, and images. The students also learn how to use a variety of web-based software programs to create and design course assignments.

Beginning in fourth grade, each student develops an electronic portfolio in which they compile their work and write reflections about each piece. The students add to their portfolio several times at each grade level throughout the rest of their time at Pardes. Students in grades 5-8 can also take advantage of our BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) program.

Here is how each of our grade levels are utilizing technology to enhance their learning and education.

Kindergarten and first grade

Center time comes alive as students use mini iPads to reinforce math and language arts skills.

Second grade

Teachers are able to complement math and language arts studies with technology, through interactive games on the jTouch TV.

Third grade

Students become more confident with technology. Third graders are able to share information about a favorite book by posting on an interactive bulletin board called Padlet. They write weekly emails to their parents about their week at school using their Pardes gmail account. Google Documents become the main tool that students create writing and other assignments.

Fourth grade

After mastering creating, editing, and electronically sharing writing pieces using Google Documents, a student then moves on to integrating technology into more of their studies. A few examples of what students work on are: creating Google presentations about natural disasters, being involved in a Mystery Skype with other schools attempting to guess their locations, and participating in a Global read aloud.

Fifth grade

In fifth grade, technology has become a major part of how students learn and present their findings. Participating in an electronic Talmud using Mindmup, creating Glogs (electronic poster) about an explorer in Glogster, creating electronic storyboards showing exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution using www.storyboardthat.com, and also developing assignments in Google Documents, Slides, and Drawing throughout the curriculum.

Sixth grade

Technology provides a unique opportunity for students to work collaboratively to create music videos about plate tectonics, electronic flashcards and quizzes are created in Quizlet to test each other's skills, and a virtual store circular is created to understand discounts.

Seventh grade

Learning to create “TED” videos, which are three minute videos sharing knowledge about a topic of interest, continues to show all of the different places technology can impact their life. Minecraft is used as a visual representation for exponents, specifically squares and cubes. Students also use of digital pH probes in science to determine pH digital versas analog helps students see how technology and science go hand in hand.

Eighth grade

Throughout a student's time at Pardes they learn to use Google Apps to work, learn and collaborate anytime, anywhere. They incorporate Geogebra for graphic representations in math, and learn how to program their graphing calculators for distance, slope, midpoint formulas, and linear equations.

Middle school electives also offer students the opportunity to participate in Robotics, Hour of Code, code an app from scratch, and produce an electronic middle school newspaper. Using technology within our core curriculum and all of these electives inspires our students to use technology to change the world around them.